


which sea has no waves, which earth has no rain

by HuiLian



Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Category: DCU (Comics), Titans (Comics)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Gen, Off screen Torture, Titans as family, Whump, Whumptober 2020, i'm putting dick through a wringer here, love me some fab five
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:26:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26812108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuiLian/pseuds/HuiLian
Summary: All of them dread and look forward equally to the times their captors come with water for Garth. On one hand, none of them wants Garth to die. On the other hand, them coming with water for Garth, also means that they are coming for Dick.How long has it been since they last come? How much longer can Garth last? Donna tries to catch Garth’s eye, but he hasn’t looked anywhere else but at Dick since they last dumped Dick back to their cell.Donna’s heart aches. How much guilt is swimming inside Garth’s head now?
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Donna Troy, Garth & Dick Grayson, Garth & Dick Grayson & Roy Harper & Donna Troy & Wally West
Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947091
Comments: 28
Kudos: 210
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> do you know that there is only 4 dick&garth fics on ao3? that is a situation that MUST be rectified immediately (so now there's 5 XD)
> 
> for whumptober 2020, day 6: no more. It's not the 6th of October yet, but the 6th is a Tuesday and I'm posting noctuis then, so have this now! 
> 
> title from an Indonesian proverb. seem's fitting, now? (it means there are no one without their struggles XD)

Donna’s wrists are throbbing from days of pulling against the chains binding her. These people are good. They are _very_ good. It takes planning and a whole lot of resources to effectively restrain an Amazon, much less to devise equally effective restraints for the rest of the Titans.

She looks over to Wally, who is practically vibrating inside his glassesque cage. Donna doesn’t know exactly what that cage is made of, but Wally can’t vibrate out of it. 

They know. He has tried, again and again. He has the injuries to prove it.

Roy, on the other hand, is almost completely covered in rope, with tape covering his hands. Their captors have learned why people call him Arsenal, and paid for their underestimation in blood. But even his efforts were not enough to get them out.

Next to her, in chains nearly similar to her own, is Garth. His own wrists are chafing too, but it is made worse by the fact that it has been hours since their captors last came with water for him. 

All of them dread and look forward equally to the times their captors come with water for Garth. On one hand, none of them wants Garth to die. On the other hand, them coming with water for Garth, also means that they are coming for Dick. 

How long has it been since they last come? How much longer can Garth last? Donna tries to catch Garth’s eye, but he hasn’t looked anywhere else but at Dick since they last dumped Dick back to their cell. 

Donna’s heart _aches_. How much guilt is swimming inside Garth’s head now? 

She knows them. These are her oldest friends. The ones she grew up with, the ones she has shared laughter, tears, blood, and ice cream with. She knows that Garth is once again beating himself up, blaming himself for being a liability to the team. 

A liability to Dick. 

But Garth’s physiology is not his fault, and Dick would be the first to tell him that. 

It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt him, though. 

“Garth,” Donna asks softly. “How much longer?”

And with that, Garth looks up at her, the guilt and anguish clear on his face. “No. No more,” he whispers, eyes wide with misery. How much of that is guilt and how much of that is pain, Donna doesn’t know. 

“Garth,” Donna coaxes. “ _How much longer?_ ”

“No, Don,” he answers, face still twisted in anguish, “no more.”

“Gillhead, just answer her,” Roy snaps. 

Garth shakes his head and looks back down to the floor where Dick is laying. They haven’t bothered with much restraint for Dick since five sessions ago. Dick hasn’t moved from where they dumped him back in their little room since two sessions ago. 

Donna follows Garth’s eyeline and almost immediately looks back up. She can’t do it. She can’t bear to look at Dick. 

“I can’t do that to him,” Garth admits. “So, no more. No more asking for water. Please, just don’t.” 

Donna registers the hoarseness in Garth’s voice, in clear contradiction to his request not to ask for water, but, before she can say anything, there is a soft, nearly unhearable whisper, even for her enhanced ears, from Dick. “Garth, it’s alright.”

That soft whisper stabs at her heart. She wishes she can take Dick’s place, but they have screamed, they have shouted, they have even _begged_ to their captors, and still, it’s Dick they take with them every time. She wants to take Dick’s pain and make it her own, if their captors won't take her, as much as she wants to, she can't do that. She doesn’t have Raven’s powers. 

And of course Dick would say that it's alright. This is Dick. He would gladly let himself be torn to shreds if it meant saving his friends. 

Garth breathes out, harshly. But he doesn’t say anything. None of them do. 

They all know how far Dick would go for them.

It’s Wally who breaks the silence. “‘Wing? Are you sure?”

A small, nearly imperceptible nod. Donna sees Wally bite his lips, she sees Roy’s tightening shoulders, and she sees Garth’s anguished face. None of them want to do it. None of them want to condemn Dick like that. 

But none of them wants Garth to die. 

Donna breathes in and steels herself. “Guards!” she yells, holding back tears. She hopes Dick can forgive her. 

She hopes _Garth_ can forgive her. 

They come immediately. It’s like they are already lurking outside, waiting for one of them to break. She’s just sorry that it has to be her. 

One of them carries a bucket of water that she dumped without any fanfare over Garth. It was just enough water to revive him. It was never enough water to fuel Garth’s magic. 

The rest of the guards pull Dick away, also without any fanfare. Dick doesn’t protest. He doesn’t struggle. 

Donna _can’t tell_ if it’s because he has already accepted the pain and torture that is coming, or because he doesn’t have enough strength to struggle. She doesn’t know which one is worse. 

As usual, Roy and Wally start shouting when they start to pull Dick away. A litany of insult, of threats, and even a few pleas. 

Donna, also as usual, pulls on her chains, ignoring the pain it caused her already mangled wrists. She wants to join in on Roy and Wally’s shouting, but she has long ago run out of insults to say.

And, as usual, the guards ignore all of them.

It is only Garth who doesn’t move. His eyes are still transfixed on Dick, mouth moving. Donna knows, even before seeing, that he’s apologizing to Dick. 

That makes Donna pull on her chains harder. It never works, though. She knows it’s not going to work. 

They have been doing this for _days_. 

The last of the guards leave, without even a glance at the four of them. Donna puts all her strength in trying to get out of her chains, but it doesn’t work. It never works. 

They are good. And if they are this good, this meticulous in restraining them, she shudders to think what they’re doing to Dick. 

The door closes, sealing them in again, and they are left once again, the four of them, just looking at each other. Donna holds her breath, waiting in dread for the inevitable, and she knows all of them are doing the same.

Minutes pass in silence. And then...then, a faint scream. 

It’s Dick’s. It’s always Dick’s. 

Donna answers it with a scream of her own. All the anger and the guilt and the _torment_ inside of her swirls together and escapes in that scream. What kind of Amazon is she, what kind of _friend_ is she, that she’s unable to protect her dearest friend?

Distantly, she hears another yell rivaling her own. “Damn it!” It’s Roy. His yell is more anger than anything else, but she knows how to listen underneath and hears the agony inside. “If you want someone who doesn’t have powers, I’m also here, bastards!”

“What the fuck do you guys want?!” Wally also yells, adding his own voice to their cacophony of despair. They are not going to get an answer, or even a reaction. 

These people seemed to not want anything other than hurting Dick. 

Donna feels tears coming out of her eyes, and feels guilty about that too. Garth is there, hanging to his life by the barest inch, and she is wasting water by crying. 

It’s unbecoming for a warrior to cry when there’s still something to be done about the situation. But there is nothing else for her to do. Nothing else that _any_ of them can do.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am up too late for class (hello, being an international student doing online classes in a hugely different timezone), so it's now oct7 already! I'm so pumped to share this! 
> 
> day 7: carrying
> 
> enjoy!

Dick has given up on trying to find a comfortable position. What’s the point? They’re just going to come back anyway. 

He has accepted it. If that’s what it takes to keep Garth alive, then so be it. 

Besides, there _is_ no comfortable position. Every inch of his body is screaming in pain. Why waste energy trying to find something that doesn’t exist? 

Somewhere beyond the ringing in his ears, he can hear Roy’s voice, soft and steady and comforting. But he cannot, for the life of him, understand what Roy is talking about. 

Every once in a while, Donna’s voice, or Wally’s, would join in, also in the same soft and steady and comforting way, but still Dick doesn’t understand a word being said. It doesn't matter, though. These are his friends, and just hearing their voices calm his frantic heart. 

The only one not saying anything is Garth. Is he okay? Did they keep their end of the bargain, giving Garth water in exchange for Dick? 

Dick wants to ask Garth how he is doing, but his mouth does not want to cooperate with his heart. So he contents himself with listening to the others, trusting them to tell him if there’s something wrong. 

*

It has become a routine, now. Dick would lay down on the floor of their cell, listening to his friends talking to him, or maybe, _about_ him, and waits until someone, usually Donna, calls for the guards to bring more water for Garth. Then, he would listen, hard, for the tell-tale sound of water being dumped on someone. He can’t really see _who_ was dumped with water, but he chooses to believe that it’s Garth every time. He cannot handle thinking otherwise. 

After he’s satisfied with that sound, though, Dick would let his hazy mind take him away again. Why bother being cognizant when all there is is pain? 

But, eventually, the pain will break the haze he purposely put himself under. And it will _keep going_ , on and on, until Dick can’t help but scream. 

He tries not to, though. No use in letting his friends listen to him scream. 

And then, once every single drop of pain has been squeezed out of his body, once his throat has turned to shreds because of all the screaming, once they are satisfied with his pain, they would dump him back in the cell, and so the cycle will continue all over again. 

But then, one day, after sessions after sessions after sessions, it changes. The door opens without any of his friends shouting for the guards. 

It meant _something_ , right? But Dick can’t _think_. He can’t figure out what that _something_ is. 

Dick tries to sit up, to see what is going on, but gentle hands push him back down. He hears other voices, now. 

He knows those voices.

He _knows_ those voices. 

Dick pulls himself out, listening hard to the people talking around him. He hears, as usual, Roy, Donna, and Wally. And then, his heart skips a few beats, because he hears Kori. He hears Vic, and Gar, and Raven. 

He hears Garth, speaking for the first time in days now. 

And Dick just lets go. Because they are here now. His Titans are here, and they will take care of things. They are more than capable of doing so. 

Vaguely, he hears the sound of water splashing and thanks anyone who is listening about it, because it means that Garth will be okay. All of this pain won’t be for naught. 

He hears metal clinking, he hears tape being ripped off, and he hears glass breaking. He lets all of it wash over him, trusting that his Titans will keep him safe. 

Then, another set of hands, equally gentle as the first one, brush his head. This one is wet, though. 

Dick wants to move, to get up, but the hands, even though gentle, holds him down firmly. And, before Dick can say a word of protest, one of the hands goes underneath his neck and the other wraps around his knees, letting rivulets of water drop down to his legs.

Before he knows it, his body is lifted up by those gentle and familiar arms. He leans his head on the strong chest, listening to the slower than the regular human's heartbeat, and feeling strangely glad that he doesn’t have to support anything himself. 

His entire body is aching. 

“Are you comfortable, ‘Wing?” Garth asks, voice as soft as the touch. 

Dick doesn’t move, not wanting to losing the comfort of Garth’s arms and security it entails. But Garth is waiting for an answer, and so Dick hums. 

He hopes Garth understands, because he really cannot be bothered to do anything else. 

But they are not his best friends for nothing. Garth pulls Dick even closer to his chest, letting the slow thump of his heart lull Dick into relaxing. Dick gives a little sigh and practically melts into Garth’s touch. 

“I’m sorry, Robbie,” Garth whispers, clearly for Dick’s ears alone. But why on earth would Garth apologize? 

Dick wants to reassure Garth that all is fine, wants to ask _why_ he feels the need to apologize, but for the first time in days, he can ignore the pain in his body. Dick is safe. He is safe in Garth's arms and he is surrounded by people who love him. What more could he ask for?

Dick makes a mental note to have a talk with Garth tomorrow, to tell him that everything is okay, to make sure that _he_ is also okay, and just buries himself into Garth’s embrace, revelling in the safety and security of it. 

He closes his eyes, and sleeps.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, comments and kudos fuel me! thank you so much for reading!
> 
> check out my tumblr if you want more of this nonsense (huilian.tumblr.com)


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